


Adoption

by Dubbrubz



Category: youtube - Fandom
Genre: Adopted child!Nate, M/M, Single father!Matt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 07:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10658112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dubbrubz/pseuds/Dubbrubz
Summary: Matt is a lonely man. Nate is a five-year-old toddler who's parents died in a horrible car crash. It's been engraved in his mind that he means absolutely nothing to anyone. That is, until a man comes in, wanting to adopt him.





	Adoption

**Author's Note:**

> How do you summary? xD
> 
> Look, I know this doesn't count as a "Matpat shipping", but, I thought this was a cute idea, so yeah...

Nate huddled in the scratchy sheets, ebony eyes closed tightly as he hugged his teddy bear close to his chest, his little body trembling. He was the smallest child out of the entire orphanage, which led to him to being bullied by the other kids. He didn’t have any toys, any friends, or really anyone to care for him. Not even the woman who ran the orphanage really paid him any mind. He was alone. No one wanted to adopt him either, which left his little stomach in knots and tears in his eyes as he would realize this.

He was a loner, a freak of a mute child. And the poor boy was only about five, this realization heavy for a small child who needed and deserved such comfort and reassurance they were wanted. The room he was locked in was the smallest and coldest, the blankets thin and full of holes. He barely ate or slept, his little arms and legs usually covered in scratches and even bite marks from the other children. Dark rings encased the small boy’s eyes, and he normally wore a frightened look.

The only thing he had left of his family was the little black teddy bear he clung to so tightly. The poor stuffed creature was battered and ripped, the seams fraying on it’s arms and legs and stuffing falling out of random holes. One of the buttons that played as an eye had popped off at some point, and all of this was because the battered animal was always yanked and pulled away from him by the other children, just to tease the teary-eyed boy.

Now, Nate sniffled as he pulled the musty smelling sheets under his chin, tears stinging his eyelids. He rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, whining at the sharp ache in his stomach from lack of food. He knew his parents had died in a horrible car crash. He knew because the orphanage lady had told him, a sneer that held all the malice in the world painted on her face as she spoke. _“You have no one to go to. Nobody wants you~”_

“M-Mom…” He whined weakly, bottom lip quivering. “D-Dad… Why did y-you leave me? Wh-what did I do wrong?” Tears slid down his cheeks, little whimpers escaping him. “I-I’m s-s-sorry. I’ll be g-good… P-Please, come back. I don’t like it here. I w-want out.” His soft cries and pleas would go unheard to the open air, his grip tightening on the little teddy bear.

He didn't know what he really expected. He'd done this every night since he'd been thrown in this hell thanks to DSS, seeing other parts of his family weren't seemingly appropriate to raise a small child like himself. Drug addicts and drunks weren't exactly the type of people you wanted a five year old child to be raised around. And this seemed like so much of a better idea.

Though, that night would be different. The children were to be in bed by seven-thirty sharp so they could catch the required sleep needed, each and every night. It was about nine or so that night that Nate's bedroom door creaked open, shadows dancing across the chipped wood floors, cream hall lights pooling and casting strange figures over his walls.

The little boy sleepily blinked, whining. He sat up, cheeks tear stained, his little ebony eyes puffy and red, his head of raven hair a fluffy mess, much like that of a pin cushion. The figure in the doorway split into two and approached his bedside, one of the figures crouching down beside the bed while the other towered over him. He brought his knees to his chest, hugging his teddy bear close, his eyes widening.

"Shh... It's okay, little one." A male's voice soothingly cooed, followed by the feeling of a hand resting on his head. Nate flinched instinctively, bringing his arms up, his little hands resting where the man's hand had touched. He wasn't used to such a gentle gesture. Normally he was thrown around, battered and bruised. Peeking up at the man from the crack between his skinny and battered arms, he tried to make out some form of profile.

"Hey, it's alright, little guy. Don't hide. I'm not going to hurt you." The man, Matthew Patrick, offered a warm smile to the tiny child in front of him. He could tell from the dim glow of the hall light this poor boy was so scratched up and battered, so thin. His little eyes were as wide as saucers, trembling slightly under his hand. Nate was terrified. What was going to happen to him?

He slowly lowered his arms, nonetheless, his hands gripping the little stuffed bear again. "That's it," Matt nodded, his thumb massaging circles into the back of the little boy's head in attempts to sooth his slight shaking. "Would you like to come home with me, little one?" He asked gently, waiting for the boy's response. Nate looked up at Matt with the biggest doe eyes, all the innocence in the world packed into one little being.

The second figure next to the man snapped their gum and spoke. "Good luck getting this one to speak. He absolutely refuses to." The second voice was a female's, filled with bitter disdain and hatred. There was so much venom aimed towards the little boy, it was almost sickening. Why would there be so much hatred for such a sweet child like this?

"Hey, don't listen to her." This man just held Nate's attention. That warm smile never faded, the hand on his head continuing to massage his scalp. "I'm gonna take you home with me, alright? How does that sound?" The little boy remained silent, but nodded meekly. This man was taking him out of here? He really had a way out of this stupid orphanage?

Matt grinned as he felt the boy nod under his hand. "I promise, when we get home, I'll get you all cleaned up and then I'll spoil you to death. Sound good?" That honestly sounded more then good to Nate. He again nodded, holding his arms out in indication he wanted to be picked up, his teddy bear clasped in his hand. The brunette chuckled and collected the little boy into his arms.

Nate looked up at Matt from under tired, half-lidded eyes. Matt pressed a gentle kiss to Nate's forehead. "I promise I'll keep you safe, little one." It was another hour or so after the brunette had adopted Nate that they arrived at Matt's home, a beautiful two-story town home reflected by the silvery light of the moon. Nate's head barely poked over the back window, curiosity shimmering in his raven eyes.

Matt chuckled as he looked back at the little boy. "Look nice?" Nate looked over at Matt, his new father, and nodded sheepishly. The brunette collected Nate from the car, carrying him inside. His footsteps echoed over hardwood floors as he walked through the foyer into the living room, Nate nuzzling into his chest. "Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?"

Nate nodded, looking around the large house while Matt carried him to the bathroom. It was nicely decorated with leather furniture, potted plants and other odds and ends that peaked the toddler's interest. Once they arrived in the bathroom, Matt set Nate down on the counter, digging under the sink to find a first aid kit. "Alright, little guy, this is gonna sting a bit."

Nate bit his lip, nodding and looking down at his feet. The brunette gently took the boy's right arm, holding his wrist as he carefully took a cotton ball covered in alcohol and ran it over the scratches and bites engraved in the little boy's skin. Nate whined at the stinging sensation that prickled his skin, looking off to the side. Matt frowned, gently kissing the little boy's forehead again. "Sh, I know it hurts. You're doing good, little one. We don't want these to get nasty and infected, do we?"

Though Nate didn't understand what infection was, it didn't sound good, so he shook his head. "Good. As soon as we're done, I'll get you something good to eat, maybe even a few cookies as a reward. Does that sound good?" The boy seemed to perk up a bit at the promise of sweets, offering another nod. Matt chuckled, ruffling Nate's hair. "Good. We're almost done, little bird."

A few moments later, Matt finished, putting the first aid kit back together and returning it back under the sink, again picking the boy up. "Now, how about those cookies?" Again, Nate nodded, actually offering a tiny smile. This man seemed so nice, maybe this would be his forever home after all.

For eleven years, Nate was a good kid. Matt was surprised how quickly the boy came out of his shell, opening up and beginning to speak to him until they talked about practically everything. The boy also developed a love for music, begging his father for guitar and singing lessons that he kept up with. Nate was good too, extremely talented. Matt enjoyed watching him practice, helping him with his school work and the like.

And then, everything began to go down hill. But, it had nothing to do with Nate and his behavior -he was really just an awkward kid who really kept to himself- but, with Matt's abilities to pay bills. For the eleven years he'd had Nate, Youtube ad revenue had been able to support them both. But, now with sponsors actually dropping out of supporting videos and giving up a portion of their profits, creators were going down hill, and fast.

Bills became harder to pay, money was tighter. Matt sat up at nights on many occasions at the kitchen table, staring down at the bills that were stacking up. He couldn't help it; He was losing sleep and growing more and more stressed, prone to crying more frequently. He didn't want to give Nate up; The little ebony-haired teen had really grown on him, much like he was his own biological son.

But, much to Matt's prior knowledge, Nate noticed. He noticed his father's stress. He noticed the bills that would stack up on the counter and table when Matt thought he'd collected them all. He hated the stress that was eating away at Matt, how exhausted and disheveled he looked on a daily basis. So, that led to him awkwardly shuffling into an interview at a local diner, wanting to help his father with the bills. The man took care of him for eleven years, after all, when he didn't have to.

The shift was third, the only one Nate really could afford to take. The good thing was, the little diner was actually pretty calm at night, not too many customers there. The only real pain was the hours. It was a twenty-four hour establishment, so, he got stuck with the eleven to three rundown. Trying to balance that with school work was almost agonizing, and yet, he had to do it.

What made the hours less strenuous, however, was his friend, Mark. The two always chatted with each other in between the few late night early birds that tumbled in the door, grinning and joking around; Both of them going back and forth when they passed. It was odd, and yet, Nate enjoyed it. 

Though, it had been one night, his shift had been awful. The occasional enraged customer flipped their shit on him when the slightest thing wrong, which normally led to a decreasing in tip, but, that night, it had resulted in a customer's plate in his face and on his shirt. By the time his shift was over, he smelled like ketchup and potatoes, bits of bacon and egg in his hair.

Mark took notice to this as Nate clocked out, moving to collect his bag from the back room. "Hey, Nate." Named teen looked up at his friend, smiling weakly.

"Hey..."

"You look like a walking breakfast special. You alright?"

Nate sighed softly and shrugged. "As alright as I can be covered in stale ketchup and dry egg yolk."

Mark frowned. "Sounds rough, dude. Wanna just come home with me so you can clean up? I can drive us to school tomorrow."

Nate chewed his lip. The only reason why he'd gotten away with keeping this job for so long was because his father was normally asleep during his work hours, or at least he assumed Nate was asleep. The teen didn't know why he kept his job hidden from Matt, but he did. He would work long enough to assist the man who took care of him with payments, not wanting to draw attention to himself while he did it.

He was okay with his little acts of kindness going unnoticed, as long as his father was happy. Finally, the teen caved. "Yeah, sure... I could probably try to bullshit an excuse to why I wasn't home last night." The half-Korean shrugged.

"Just say you were working on a project with me. It's alright, Nate. Besides, you look like you need a good shower and some rest."

Boy, Mark wasn't kidding. As soon as they pulled into the driveway of Mark's mother's house, they b-lined up the stairs. Mark tossed Nate a shirt and a pair of sweatpants, allowing him to have free range over the shower, like he so deserved as Mark put it. The half-Korean teen insisted he could take a shower in the morning, for Nate not to worry about sucking down the hot water. It was a good half hour later that the raven-haired teen stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair, Mark already crashed in the bed.

Nate gladly took the couch that night, crashing the instant his head hit the pillow Mark had tossed him on the way out of his bedroom. It wouldn't be until the next day, that afternoon to be exact, that he really had to explain what he'd done the night before. Matt always saw his son every morning before he went to school, never mattering how early or late either of them were. They normally shared a coffee together before Nate jogged the two blocks to the local high school, Poptarts or toast wedged in his mouth.

But, that morning, Nate had been strangely absent. Had his son finally woke up earlier then him? Damn, that would've been a first. That afternoon when the teen came in the door, Matt decided to question it. "Nate... Where were you this morning?" Named teen froze. What would his father say, knowing he'd been working at nights for the past few months without him knowing?

Nate didn't want to lie, he really didn't. The raven-haired teen swallowed thickly and sighed. "Well... I've... I've got a job, dad." Matt looked shocked. "A job?"

"Yeah... I've been working at the Stradfield diner for the last couple of months now to help you pay bills." Matt felt his stomach drop. Nate had been working to help _him_? Never once had he heard of any child doing this, and it made him smile, tears pricking his eyes. "You really got a job to help me, huh?" Matt held his arms out, collecting the smaller boy. "Thank you, Nathan."

"It's no problem, dad. Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate everything you've done for me for eleven years..."

Matt chuckled and tipped Nate's head up, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Of course, Nate. I care for you because, I love you. I kept you because, I love you. Nothing could ever change that. Do you understand?" Nate nodded with a soft smile. Of course he knew this was true. It had been true for eleven years, and he didn't see it changing any time soon.


End file.
